considering my first Hybrid.

How many miles do you drive a Day? Do you drive more city driving or Highway driving? Do you have children or planning on starting a family soon?

The Prius C is a Better city car and the Prius Hatchback is a better highway car. Both operate good in both environments. The Hatchback has more cargo room and is better if you have children or planning on starting a Family in the near future.

I always prefer a new car versus a Used car. New cars lose plenty of value the first year but it will be 3 years newer and require less repairs than a 3 year old car. You will hate to make car repairs while still making payments. If it was me I would buy the new C car versus a 3 year old hatchback.

Best of luck and let us know ho you make out.

 

A new Prius 2 just might be in your range if you can go 21+ to maybe 22 tops, I think it would be your best bet, but then I have one and love it, especially when passing gas stations.

 

With that kind of mileage I would get a new car. These Prius are reliable cars but at 100K miles they start requiring repairs, at 150,000 miles they may require expensive repairs. At your mileage in 6 years you will clock 140,000 miles on a new car. The used will be 9 years old and may have 175,000 miles assuming your buying a used car with 25,000 miles. Most cars at that mileage need new battery or other big repairs.

Get the new. Less headaches in the long run.

If you buy the new car and after 3 years you can sell and get another car also if that's how you role.

 

I figured your mileage based on 7 days and not 4. You get my position though.

 

All I did when buying is create a little spreadsheet that allowed me to plug in assumptions for price, miles per year, mileage, cost per gallon and car purchase cost. it spit out the years it would take me to recover the extra initial cost of the hybrid and the cost per year in gas. Maintenance I figure to be about the same as hybrid complexity is offset by regen braking shortening the amount the brakes are used. Insurance went up $20 over a 9 year old car. Tires actually cheaper.

My son has a three year old fastback, no troubles. He does your commute and I've heard nothing but good things from him. I have the Prius V and it is bigger and heavier and the squared off back less aerodynamic. So it gets less MPG but still very good for the shape/size of car it is...more than double the MPG of the 4-cyl SUV it replaced. And the difference between 18 and 42 is lots more than the difference between 42 and 55 percentage wise.

Do drive the car for a while and see if you fit. I've done 8 hours with 2 very short stops but that is my body size/type. Yours may be different and you want to get there and not be stiff. Not saying anything about the seats or car would cause any problem, just everybody is shaped differently and you want to be sure before you buy.

 

make sure you take them both for a long test drive. find some bumpy pothole roads, preferably without the salesman. keep the stereo off, listen for rattles, especially on the 2010.

 

I wrote "who should not get a Prius" post, you may wish to read it over, just in case.

considering a Prius | PriusChat

 

If you leave the ECO button off car is powered fairly well. If you leave the Power button on you should be powered as much as the Prius can deliver. I never drove the Scion so I cannot compare. The Prius and acceleration is not a hot button. Is it tolerable? For me most often yes. If you looking for 50 MPG buy a Prius, if you looking for Power consider another car. My friend purchased a Mazda 3 it s peppy and gets 40 MPG on the Freeway.

 

Munpot42 has a good point if you can swing it. There are still quite a few 2012's out there - at least on my side of the continent. New is always better in my opinion - nothing like that smell - even though it only last a few weeks/months. Unless you can buy a used car that you know was taken care of - sometimes even certified used is a crap shoot.

 

I never considered a hybrid either until I found out about the C. 2 months later I owned one. Love it. Never used the eco button and am happy with the "pep". I told the salesman I was going to "floor it from a stop". Have to know if I can live with the get up and go, or lack of. I was surprised and bought one a week later. Most of my driving is hiway and interstate but I still like it and am happy with the mileage. I am retired and the car is paid for so I don't compare it to anything but my last car, Vibe gt. It won't run like the Vibe but it sure gets a lot better mileage and the area up front is about the same as the Vibe. Shorter car so a little rougher ride but hey, I can handle it.
Dan

 

As an owner of two hybrids (2009 TCH and 2012 Prius), go for one. Not only do they get good gas mileage but they are well made and their emphasis on mileage encourages you to pay attention to the way you drive (even when driving other vehicles).
You might check Consumer Reports on the Prius C which didn't get that good a writeup.

 

See the '200,000 mile club' in the Gen II main forum. Some very good reports from 200,000+ owners.

 

Or 299,999+ Mile Club.